Garden Power

Today you, Papa, and I planted some flowers in the front yard. You have been begging me to do this for like a year so you were SUPER excited. Papa and I would dig the holes and you would place a flower in it and pat the soil around it. You were so proud of your gardening skills. Half way through the planting, out of the blue you said this. "I am a good gardner. I have gardner super powers." Papa and I just giggled at your cuteness. We had such a wonderful day. I love you, Little Munchkin.

Grace Lutheran Christmas Show

On December 5th you had your Preschool Christmas show. For a few weeks you had been working on two songs that you were to sing on the alter at Grace Lutheran Church. I was a little nervous that you weren’t going to go up there. You woke me up that morning saying that you had a horse voice and s stuffy noise so you would not be able to sing today. I assured you that you would be fine. We got you all dressed and beautiful and put you into the car. On the way, your true feelings about singing came out. You admitted that you didn’t want to get up on stage in front of all the people. You were scared. I told you that you would have all your friends up there with you so it wouldn’t be too scary. But I was pretty nervous!!



When we got to the church you saw all your best friends, including your BOYFRIEND Devin. Yes, that’s right, your boyfriend. You are only four and you already have one. Oh no! Well, before the show started you ran around and played with all your friends and had so much fun that you forgot about how scared you were.



When it came time for your class to go up on the alter, you climbed right up there and proudly sang your songs with the hand motions. I was one proud mama.




After the songs, the director told the parents that they could come on up and take pictures. Well, this is when the funniest thing happened. You jumped your place in line and stood in front of all your friends and began posing for the cameras. You modeled all your different poses for Grandpa and my camera.

The "I'm So Cute" pose.



The "I'm a Teenager with a Fitted Dress" pose.



The "Daddy You Better Watch Out For the Boys" pose.



I was laughing so hysterically along with Aunty and Sara. It was the cutest thing I have ever seen and a true example of your funny personality. Thank you for the laughs little lady.

Wow It Has Been A Long Time

Well, I haven’t written on this here blog in quite some time. There have been many changes to your life. You finally became a big sister on September 17th, you are now four years old, and you have had your long locks of hair chopped off.

Let’s start with the first big change in your life: your little brother. This sweet boy came into your world and turned it completely upside down. The “only-childness” you have enjoyed for almost four years was over in an instant. But I have to say you have handled it like a trouper. More than anything you love to snuggle and kiss your brother. You sing him songs when he cries that you make up all on your own. One of my favorite lyrics you have come up with is, “We will never leave you, Nate. We are your family.” You tell him all the time that he is so cute and you whisper to him secrets I will never know. You put your face close to his and ask me, “Mom, would this be a cute picture?” My hope for you and Nate is that you will be best friends forever. So far, you two are headed in the right direction.



On November 23rd you FINALLY turned four. I say finally because many of your friends have turned four before you and you couldn’t wait until you joined them. This year we celebrated at Pump It Up. You jumped and played and had a fabulous time will all your closest friends. And best of all: Mom had to do none of the set up or clean up. It was FABULOUS!



Now about your hair. You have been growing your hair now for quite some time. You would not let me cut it because Becca had VERY LONG hair and you wanted it to be just like her. So we hadn’t cut it in over a year. Well, then Becca came to visit over Thanksgiving vacation. She came with a very short haircut. She had donated her hair to Locks of Love. Once you saw her new hair-do you decided to cut yours. So on December 17th you chopped your hair off. And we ALL just love it. Including you. As you walked out of the hair salon, you exclaimed that, “I look gorgeous!” And you do!!!


You are becoming such a beautiful girl both inside and out. I thank my lucky stars each day that I have such a wonderful, sweet, amazing daughter. I love you with all my heart, Pumpkin Head.

Ferris Wheel Fun

On Friday I took you on your very first Ferris Wheel ride. It was one of those days where we didn't have much planned. We were actually out running errands when you fell asleep in the car. Since naps are a rare commodity around here, I decided to take a drive so you could catch your zzz's. We ended up all the way at Balboa Island. You woke up as soon as I found a parking spot. The first thing you noticed was the great big Ferris Wheel. You REALLY wanted to go. So I paid the six dollars (wow, pricey!) and we boarded. As soon as the wheel started turning, your whole body started shaking and you grabbed hold of me with a death grip. I tried to focus your attention to the beautiful scenery...anything to get you to calm down. It took about five full rotations and then you were in love. You were having so much fun. The nice man let us ride for about ten minutes, but you could have stayed on much longer. I love experiencing FIRSTS with you. I tried to take pictures with my camera phone...but no luck. I really need to get my camera fixed!

*Cuteness: When your tummy growls you inform me that your, "tummy is grungling." So adorable.

The Best Husband in the Whole Wide World

I have the best husband in the WHOLE WIDE WORLD! The other night I was craving s'mores. I had bought all the ingredients at Target and was dying to sink my teeth in a gooey, delicious, chocolatey s'more. But there was one problem: how to cook the marshmallows? We no longer had a fire pit and we have electric burners in the kitchen. Well, instead of just calling it quits, my fabulous hubby threw a log in the fireplace and lit a cracking fire......in June.....just for his crazy craving, pregnant wife. Thanks my love for the delicious s'mores.






By the way, he could be the best daddy ever, too. What other daddy would sport such a ridiculous hat just to please his 3 year old daughter?

Self-Induced Exhaustion

I haven’t posted in a couple of days because I am suffering from self-induced exhaustion. This week we have gone to Disneyland four times. And while it has been so much fun, I feel like I have been ran over by a u-haul. My poor legs cannot take anymore walking.

So instead of writing a bunch of stuff, I will post some pictures of our adventures....with captions of course.



Here you are with Aunty going on Autopia for the first time. You loved the ride so much because Aunty let you steer. You couldn't stop talking about how you kept crashing.



You, Aunty, and Sara waiting in line.



You, Sara, and me waiting in line.



Here are you and Sara riding It's A Small World. This is one of your favorite rides!!!



You and Sara got your face painted. You held very still for the nice artist. You take your make-up very seriously.






Don't you two look beautiful!!




Here is our future movie star. Good luck today, gorgeous!

We spent the afternoon at the Magic Kingdom. But we went home to eat some dinner and pick up Daddy. He came back with us and the four of you went on Star Tours (it was your very first time), Matterhorn, and Astro Blasters.



The two "lights of my life" waiting in line for Astro Blasters. I wish I had my good camera. The background was awesome but you can't see it in this picture.

Daddy and Aunty thought they traumatized you on Star Tours but you excitedly talked about it the next day. You thought the robot driving you to outer space was so cool. You even asked to go on it again. We also went on Finding Nemo. We waited in that line for 20 minutes and when we were next to get on the submarine you proclaimed you had to go to the bathroom. Ahhhh!! So we had to step aside, I ran you to the bathrooom, and then got to ride it. This seems to happen a lot when we are waiting for a ride. I guess it comes along with the territory of taking a 3 year old to Disneyland.

Miss Mae, I am so proud of you. I never thought a daughter of mine would go on all those scary rides at a mere 3 years old. You continue to surprise me every day. Every moment with you is a delightful adventure. Thank you for being you.

*Cuteness: I have mentioned to you that "stupid" is a bad word. Now NO ONE can get away with saying it without you reprimanding them. You have total "stupid" radar. You can detect anyone saying it on tv, music, or conversations. When you hear it you always say, "stupid is a bad word." I don't think you realize that you are actually saying it!!

Fun-Filled and Action-Packed

Yesterday was a fun-filled, action-packed day. Not even kidding. We started off by heading to the gym. You got to play while I took a step class. For some reason you LOVE going to the gym, which makes me VERY happy that I can go workout guilt-free.

We then showered and headed to the new house of our friends Karan, Ryland, and Kenna. We had not seen them since February. At first, Ryland wasn’t so sure that he wanted us there. He actually locked everyone out of the house. Karan had to pound and pound on the window and door to have him let us in. It took a while for him to warm up to us and then it was just like old times. You guys ran around, rode bikes together, and drove the BIG Escalade (your favorite). You guys looked so adorable. It made me imagine you all grown up as a teenager riding around in cars with boys. I actually got a little teary-eyed. Don’t grow up too fast!!




You were so exhausted you fell asleep on the way to Target. So when we got there I put you in the stroller and you slept the whole time I shopped. It was so nice to be able to stroll and look around while you rested. I even took an extra long time so you could get a nice nap before Disneyland.

At around six o’clock we picked up Aunty Netty and Hailee Bop and headed to the Magic Kingdom. We were so excited to see them since we hadn’t gotten together in a LONG time. You and Hailee chatted and giggled all the way there. And so did Aunty and me.

We decided to go to California Adventure first. I really wanted you to see the Electrical Parade. That parade has a special place in my heart. Not only did I love watching it with my parents as a young child, it was also the first Disney parade that I ever performed in. So I couldn’t wait to see your face when you saw all the sparkly floats go by. We parked our strollers in an awesome location then headed to A Bug’s Life to ride a couple of rides before the parade started. We rode two rides. Super fun! You and Hailee put your arms up and squealed with delight. I may be biased but you two are the cutest little girls I have ever seen. I just love how much fun you have together.




We headed back to our strollers and I waited with you girls while Aunty bought you vanilla ice cream with sprinkles. Yum. Eventually, after much waiting, the parade came and your expressions did not disappoint. Your eyes sparkled and I was delighted to see you LOVE the parade.







After the parade we headed to Disneyland. We were able to ride Small World, the carousel, and Dumbo before I ran out of steam. We decided to make out way to the car around eleven o’clock. When we arrived at the parking structure, Aunty Netty and I realized that we had been chatting so much when we got to Disneyland that we didn’t look to see what floor we parked on. We knew the general area we parked but not the floor. No problem, right? We would just start on level 3 and then try the next couple of floors. Sounds easy enough. Well, a half an hour later we still couldn’t find the car. Aunty went up and down the stairwells and so did I. Where the heck did we park the car? Just when we thought it somehow disappeared into thin air, we found it…….on the first floor we had initially started on. It was just WAY in the back!! Boy was I relieved to see the car!

We had such a wonderful time. Thanks Aunty and Hailee Bop for always providing memorial times. We love you both!!